It’s hard to beat the insanity of past American Horror Story seasons, but Apocalypse is already giving the iconic anthology series a run for its money. We’re only two episodes in and we’ve already witnessed the end of the world, cannibalism, the arrival of the antichrist, and one of AHS‘ most bizarre sex scenes to date. There’s a lot to handle during the end of the world, and Kyle Allen‘s Timothy is standing in the middle of it all, trying to stay normal as chaos reign supreme. Spoilers ahead for American Horror Story: Apocalypse Episode 1 and 2.

Best known for his work on Hulu’s cult drama The Path, Allen plays Timothy, a high school graduate who’s taken to Outpost 3 because of his superior apocalypse-surviving DNA. In a bunker filled with over-the-top divas and devilish keepers, Timothy and the equally genetically excellent Emily (Ash Santos) stand as two of the only grounded characters in this twisted season.

“Sometimes you feel a little left out,” Allen admitted. “Everyone’s batshit, so it’s kind of your job [to stay level-headed]. I mean, that’s a function of storytelling. If you have a bunch of insane characters you have to have someone who grounds us otherwise the audience doesn’t have a way in.”

And the way in Allen and Santos provide is surprisingly sweet. As the season has progressed, Timothy and Emily’s relationship has become one of AHS‘ few genuinely nice romantic relationships. “They’re kind of each other’s savior, if you will. Literally everything else on the planet has fallen apart except for each other,” he said.

However American Horror Story has a long history on introducing seemingly lovable characters who turn into monsters. The most extreme example of this character shift is undoubtably Tate Langdon in Murder House. When asked if Timothy has a dark twist in his future, Allen said he didn’t know. “They have not told me anything.”

But just because Allen is playing once of AHS‘ few grounded characters that doesn’t mean he can’t get a little crazy. In “The Morning After,” Timothy and Emily and shocked to discover a huge group of snakes living in one of the bunker’s closets. “We had so many snakes and that was awesome,” he said. “I think I have the most snake interactions of anyone by like one scene.”

Photo: FX

And then there’s that time that Allen shot Kathy Bates’ evil henchwoman, Miriam.

In Episode 2, Timothy and Emily break one of Outpost 3’s biggest rules — no sex. The sinister Miriam Mead (Bates) drags the young couple into the decontainment chamber, presumably to either torture or kill them. At the last minute Timothy breaks free, steals a gun, and shoots Miriam.

Timothy’s breakout took roughly a day and a half to film. At one point the production team spent six or seven hours just filming that one scene. But even though “The Morning After’s climax ended with Kathy Bates repeatedly getting shot, the horror legend took her character’s injury in stride. “I think after her eighth season it didn’t require a conversation,” Allen said about their on-set relationship. “It was a relatively tame day compared to the things that happen on this show.”

The real shock of that finale doesn’t come from Timothy pulling the trigger but what happens next. After Miriam recoils in pain, she peels back the fabric around her dress to reveal that wires and something yellow are oozing out of the wound. We don’t know what Miriam is, but she’s definitely not human.

“I knew about [that reveal] prior to shooting the scene. It was in the script. But when I read that part in the script it was like ‘OK what is happening?,’” Allen said. “Everything I knew was a lie.”

Being confused about what’s going to happen this season is so prevalent it’s become a sort of on-set game. Allen said that members of the cast regularly try to get information out of the writers about what’s really happening in this dystopian future. “They’re like Buckingham Palace guards,” he said.

However, there is one cast member who’s especially good at getting behind-the-scenes information — AHS newcomer and the antichrist himself Cody Fern. “Cody wins completely. People just tell him stuff. I don’t know how he does it,” Allen said.

It’s unclear if Allen and Fern’s behind-the-scenes camaraderie will appear on screen this year. At this point in Season 8, Michael Langdon (Fern) is interviewing every member of Outpost 3 to determine which members of the human race are worth saving. Most of “The Morning After” follows Langdon torturing Mr. Gallant (Evan Peters) while Timothy and Emily plot to trick Langdon and leave Outpost 3.

When asked if his character has any scenes coming up with Langdon, Allen laughed. “I am specifically required to not say.” Hopefully that’s a yes. Our fingers are crossed that AHS: Apocalypse‘s resident lovestruck kids make it out of this nightmare alive.

New episodes of American Horror Story: Apocalypse premiere on Wednesdays at 10/9c.